I arrived in Las Vegas on Wednesday, April 11th for the Slot Machine Forum's annual Meet which would be on Thursday the 12th. Thanks to Shamus the moderator of the Player's Life Forum which is all about WMS slots, both old and new, the big event for tonight was a visit to the WMS slot studio to see their new slots and participate in a focus study.
http://www.playerslife.com/
My friend Slotspert was kind enough to give Boots, Brian and I a ride to WMS Studios and that's us getting ready to enter. I think there might have been a total of 25 to 30 of us visiting WMS tonight.
After getting checked in at the front desk, signing a form and having our photo taken for our name tag we started to meet some of the WMS developer's who were on hand to demonstrate their new slots and answer questions. What a great group of guys they were, very friendly and welcoming and I felt they were happy to have us there. Above one of the WMS developer's was kind enough to take a photo of Brian and I attacking each other with some of the weapons from the new CLUE slot.
After exiting the reception area we entered the first section of the slot display area which also had snacks and beverages set up for us.
Half of us entered the slot showroom while the other half went into a conference area for the focus study. Naturally I gravitated first to the slot showroom.
The showroom had some of their older successful slots like Wizard of Oz, along with ones currently being introduced to casinos and a few that were still in testing and would be released later this year.
Slotspert and I headed immediately to the new Gone with the Wind Slot! I liked this slot, the graphics, the bonuses and the music. Thanks to a friendly developer Slotspert and I were able to see what all the bonuses would look like. Gone with the Wind is a video reel type slot and the bonuses are the usual free spins or picking bonuses but the slot is sure to be a winner for Gone with the Wind movie fans! We were told this slot would likely start making its way to casino floors in June.
My only disappointment during my visit to WMS was they didn't have the Aladdin slot with sensory sound and motion that I had played in October at G2E on hand. I was surprised it wasn't there to play as they are still saying that Aladdin will also ship around June.
One of the slots that I really liked both the theme and the bonuses was Monster Jackpots.
With my usual lack of luck so far in 2012 I just couldn't get a bonus on Monster Jackpots so had to rely on one of the developer's to turn them on for me. While I like this slot, Rambler who was there told me he didn't care for the music, so some other slot players might not like it for that reason.
Also on hand was Baron Von Bacons Million Credit Bonus slot which I later played at Venetian during the trip. Unfortunately I didn't get the bonus at WMS when playing for free and didn't get it later at Venetian, so at the moment I'm thinking perhaps it's too volatile for me. Of course this year I'm thinking that with almost all the slots!
After getting to play as much as I wanted on the display slots it was time for my group to participate in the focus study. Due to privacy issues I didn't take any photos there and since I'm not sure we're permitted to discuss what we talked about, I'll just say that most of us in the focus group were not shy about giving our opinions about what we like and dislike in slot play.
As we were winding up and getting ready to leave our tour of WMS studios the developers let us have some fun with getting screens of wilds on a couple of the slots. Oh, if only this had occurred in real casino play!
Thanks WMS, and Shamus for a couple fun hours!
For everyone. That win on the Princess Bride was a Nickel Denom, $32 bet. Win of $32,0000!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great opportunity! I would love to get to go to a developing slot studio. Shame that SUPER BIG WIN wasn't for real. Much luck to you next trip!
ReplyDeleteNow that is a cool tour. I wouldn't mind going on one of those myself. Is this open to the public or do you have to know someone to tour? Thanks for sharing your pics. Great writeup too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Terrie. They aren't open to the public, you have to be invited to one of their events or focus studies. In our case Shamus the moderator for the players life forum set it up with WMS.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the report Diana. It was fun to visit WMS and I think if any of you out there reading this get an opportunity to do so you would really enjoy it. It was a very enjoyable experience and they were very welcoming to our group.
ReplyDeleteAngela
Hi Diana, My sis and I love your posts. Since we make several trips to LV each year, we always read your posts first to see what slots are playing. LOL,it doesn't always work but I sure have played some different machines and even won on them.the visit to WMS was cool - wish my schedule would have allowed me to go to Las Vegas during the Slot Machine Forums annual meeting. Thanx for keeping us up to date.
ReplyDeleteAs always thank you for another awesome report on something many of us may never experience.I enjoy your perspective on these trips, and they always help me to fill in the voids between my own.My next trip is May 11 so any Vegas info is always GREATLY appreciated to help with the pre-trip anxiety. Countdowns to Vegas always go so slowly, 9 more sleeps and I will be there. Take care and thanks again for all the effort you put into the blog
ReplyDeleteThis company has really demonstrated their ability to produce a high quality product and no doubt they will continue to provide an excellent return for their stockholders.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I'm sorry your scheduled didn't let you attend the SMF meet this year, hopefully next year you will be able to join the fun.
ReplyDeleteThanks Angela, it was fun to share the experience with you and others from the player's life forum1
Aricczona, have a a great trip next week in Vegas. My husband and I would have been there that weekend for Vegas Uncork'd but it turns out we are moving this month instead. 80 boxes packed, only about 200 plus to go, and we're only moving less then 10 miles away but it's turning out to be more work then I expected. Hope you come back from your trip with lots of fun stories and of course a big win or two!
Hi Folks:
ReplyDeleteIf we are lucky, we might get the opportunity to put something together like this next year. Keeps your eyes peeled on Player's Life (playerslife.com) for more details next year. It's a another little perk for signing up with a Player's Life ID.
/\/\/\/\ the Shamus /\/\/\/\
Shamus, that would be great if we could do it again next year!
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